Chimera
by KataHime
Summary: A rewrite of sorts of "Chimera," containing OT3-related deleted scenes. Blame my muse.


**Chimera**

**Gibbs/Jenny/Abby**

**A/N: So, I rewatched 5x06 Chimera a while back and got inspiration to write this. Spoilers**

Abby sighed quietly to herself as her coworkers handed back their tickets to Brain Matter. She'd been super excited to take them, had planned out the entire evening.

"We'll go another time, okay, Abby?" Kate said as she handed back her ticket.

"Sure," she said. The word came out thick, stuck to the roof of her mouth. She'd been looking forward to this all month.

Her friend Rob had been able to secure her the tickets; hell, she'd even persuaded Gibbs to go. Well okay, that was more prodding on Jen's part, to experience her music together, but still.

She watched the team of five head out, knowing Ducky would be joining them in the garage.

* * *

"You guys okay?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah," Tim said, something that sounded suspiciously close to sarcasm slipping into his tone, "I'm dealing with my boat phobia. Tony's dealing with his rat phobia. Ziva's dealing with her ghost phobia. And Kate's dealing with her claustrophobia."

"So what's Gibbs dealing with?" she questioned, biting back a smirk, already knowing the answer.

She saw Gibbs enter from behind, and McGee stepped back, "Them! Abbs, patch me through to the Director."

"No need, Jethro. I'm here," Jen breezed into her lab, and faintly, she could hear the elevator doors close. "What's the status?"

"Well, the crew has disappeared. Except for one."

"Did he tell you where they are?"

"No. He's dead."

Taking in that information, she asked, "Have you ID'd him?"

"Yeah, hang on." he reached into his back pocket, pulling out his notebook, "Ah, Dr. Satoshi Takada. What do you got on him, Abbs?"

She turned back to her computer, punching in the man's name, "Dr. Satoshi Takada. Marine biologist. Lieutenant Commander for the Navy since 1997. PhD in biology from LSU."

"Make sure Skinner knows he's got 20 men stranded in lifeboats."

Jen nodded, "I'll get right on it. Does Ducky have a cause of death?"

"We're still doing tests. Don't know what killed him yet."

"Yes, we do," Ducky's voice came from behind Gibbs, and Gibbs turned to look at him, "My initial diagnosis of asphyxia was incorrect, I'm afraid. It looks as if Takada died of viral hemorrhagic fever, to which, by now, we have all been exposed."

"Can't leave the ship." Gibbs surmised.

"Well, that's not a problem, Jethro. If my diagnosis is correct, we'll all be dead by morning."

She felt her heart clench tightly. _They'd all be dead by morning_?

"Let's hope you're wrong then, Duck," Gibbs' voice broke through her inner thoughts.

"Agreed," Jen said from beside her, "I'll get the information to Skinner. You keep investigating."

The link disconnected then, and her lab was suddenly too quiet. Jen squeezed her hand softly, and she turned to look at her.

"They'll come back, Abbs. He'll be back."

She nodded, but she couldn't voice her agreement; she was too afraid of being wrong.

* * *

She paced in the bullpen. Paced and paced and paced, her thoughts a mess. They were supposed to be back an hour ago, and hadn't Jen said something about the Chimera exploding? _Oh my God. Oh my God_.

She doesn't realize Jen has made her way into the bullpen until she's being grabbed firmly by the shoulders, being stopped in front of her girlfriend.

"Abby, you'll wear a hole in the floor."

"You said it exploded."

Jen nodded, her expression dark, "The Navy didn't want anyone to know it existed."

"And Gibbs and the others?" She asked, but she was afraid of the answer.

"They're on the Russian ship, just running a bit behind."

"Promise?" She hated the way her voice shook with uncertainty.

Standing in the dimly lit bullpen, the rain coming down hard outside, all she wanted was the hope that everything would be okay. Jen smiled softly, stroking her cheek. It was the closest she would get to PDA while in HQ, she knew.

"I promise, Abbs."

The elevator rang out in the quiet that followed, and she stepped away from Jen on instinct. So she was surprised that the woman squeezed her hand; it was the barest of actions, hardly noticeable, but she still felt her hand when she took a step back. The moment she saw Gibbs step out of the elevator, she'd already launched herself forward. When he caught her in his arms, it reminded her of his coma and how he'd left for four months, and she buried her face in his neck, breathing in the mixture of saltwater and sawdust. They stand there for long moments, and she doesn't want to let go, fearing that he'd disappear if she did.

"I'm okay," he breathed softly in her hair.

She heard the elevator ping again, his agents packed up for the night and heading home, too used to her displays of affection to give it much thought; she felt him open his other arm. "Come here."

Jen let out a huff, mumbling something about PDA, and she could hear the sound of her heels along the floor before she was taking in the gentle perfume as Jen stepped into his grasp; a slight shift had Jen wrapping an arm around her waist.

She sighed contently. Hugs from Gibbs were nice, but nothing beat the feeling of her lovers holding her. She never wanted them to let go, even though she knew they had to.

"Come on," he spoke up softly, "Let's go home."

She couldn't help but agree.

**A/N: Thanks for reading!**


End file.
